Did the Vietnam War cause a rise in crime in America?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Do you think the high crime rates of the 70s, 80s and 90s in America had anything to do with the trauma the Vietnam War caused? The average age of a Vietnam War vet was 19 and even today they’re only about 65 years old, so the trauma would still have effected people born as late as the 2000s in a direct way, for example fathers who fought in the war taking their pain out on their children.

Not only that but also the drinking and other ways of coping with the horrible memories I could see increasing the crime rate by exacerbating drug trading and alcohol abuse.

2

It is my understanding a significant number of servicemen picked up heroin and other addictions in Vietnam.

3

Nah, that was probably lead poisoning.

Scroll down and look at the charts on the right column.

4

Not in itself. However it was part of a general disrespect of law and authority in general.

5

Particularly among elements of society that “didn’t know their place”?

6

High crime wasn’t a US phenomenon, it was worldwide. We even understand why now - the explanation is scary but hundreds of scientists support it now and no one has come up wit a plausible alternative.

If anything, the stat you need to look at is suicide rates and the social policy change you should look at is higher criminal sentencing tariffs.

Good luck with your essay.